Number of women tested for cervical cancer in England falls after 2008-09 peak, report shows

3.3 million women aged 25 to 64 in England were tested under the NHS Cervical Screening Programme in 2009-10 compared to the previous year's peak of 3.6 million, an NHS Information Centre report shows today.

The fall relates to women aged 25 to 49, where the number tested fell from 3.0 million to 2.6 million, according to Cervical Screening Programme, England, 2009-10.

However overall coverage - the percentage of eligible women aged 25-64 screened at least once in the last five years - has remained the same overall for both years at just under 80 per cent.

The total number of women invited fell for all groups aged between 25 and 49 with the exception of the 25 to 29-year-olds, where there was an increase of nearly 49,000 women invited (to reach just under 807,000).

The number of women tested fell for all groups aged between 25 and 49, who are invited every 3 years. For 25 to 29 year olds, the decrease was just under 23,000 (falling to just under 566,000)

The report also shows that in 2009-10:

  • The number of women invited in the 25 to 49 age group fell overall by just under 124,000 (to just under 3.3 million), while the number tested fell by just over 354,000 (to just over 2.6 million). Coverage (the percentage of eligible women screened in the last 3.5 years) however increased; from 72.5 per cent to 74.0 per cent.
  • The number of women invited in the 50 to 64 age group (who are invited every five years) increased by just over 172,000 to reach 816,000, while the number tested increased by nearly 19,000 to reach nearly 669,000. Coverage (the percentage of eligible women screened in the last 5 years) fell slightly from 80.0 per cent to 78.9 per cent.
  • 44.6 per cent of test results were sent out by primary care organisations to women within two weeks of screening, compared to 21.4 per cent the previous year.
  • Six of England's ten Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs) achieved 80 per cent or more coverage amongst women aged 25-64. East Midlands SHA reported the highest coverage at 82.1 per cent, while London SHA reported the lowest at 73.9 per cent.

NHS Information Centre Chief Executive Tim Straughan said: “Screening is vital to catch changes to the cervix which may develop into cervical cancer. This report is important in helping NHS professionals and the public understand what percentage of eligible women is being screened.

“The 2008-09 peak in numbers attending screening, which may be due in part to publicity surrounding the late Jade Goody's battle with cervical cancer, appears not to have been sustained this year.”

“The report also tells us a greater percentage of women are finding out their test results faster; as the percentage of results being sent out within two weeks of screening has more than doubled in a year to reach just under 45 per cent.”

The report can be accessed at: www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/cervscreen0910

ENDS

Notes to editors

  1. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care (The NHS IC) is England's authoritative, central, independent source of health and social care information. It works with a wide range of health and social care providers nationwide to provide the facts and figures that help the NHS and social services run effectively. Its role is to collect data, analyse it and convert it into useful information which helps providers improve their services and supports academics, researcher, regulators and policymakers in their work. The NHS IC also produces a wide range of statistical publications each year across a number of areas including: primary care, health and lifestyles, screening, hospital care, population and geography, social care and workforce and pay statistics.
  2. The NHS Cervical Screening Programme invites all women aged 25 to 64 for regular cervical screening, every three to three and a half years for those aged 25 to 49 and every five years for those aged 50 to 64.
  3. Coverage is defined as the percentage of women in a population eligible for screening at a given point in time (i.e. March 31st, at any given year) who were less than a specified period since their last test producing an adequate test result. Women ineligible for screening, and thus not included in the numerator or denominator of the coverage calculation, are those whose recall has been ceased for clinical reasons (most commonly due to hysterectomy).
  4. As the frequency with which women are invited for screening is dependent on age, coverage is calculated differently for different age groups, as follows. For the complete target age range (women aged 25 to 64) coverage is calculated as the number of women who have had an adequate screening test within the last 5 years as a percentage of the eligible population. The 5 year period is also used to calculate coverage for women aged 50-64. However, for women aged 25 to 49, coverage is calculated as the number of women who have had an adequate screening test within the last 3.5 years as a percentage of the eligible population. This reflects the fact that women in this age group are invited for screening more frequently.
  5. Screened – a woman has been screened if she has had an adequate cervical screening test result. A woman who has had only an inadequate test has not been screened.
  6. Tested – a woman has been tested if she has had a cervical screening test, regardless of the result.
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